This volume contains contributions by the participants of the conference "Groups and Computation", which took place at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, in June 1999. This conference was the successor of two workshops on "Groups and Computation" held at DIMACS in 1991 and 1995. There are papers on permutation group algorithms, finitely presented groups, polycyclic groups, and parallel computation, providing a representative sample of the breadth of Computational Group Theory. On the other hand, more than one third of the papers deal with computations in matrix groups, giving an in-depth treatment of the currently most active area of the field. The points of view of the papers range from explicit computations to group-theoretic algorithms to group-theoretic theorems needed for algorithm development.

This volume is the proceedings of a conference on Finite Geometries, Groups, and Computation that took place on September 4-9, 2004, at Pingree Park, Colorado (a campus of Colorado State University). Not accidentally, the conference coincided with the 60th birthday of William Kantor, and the topics relate to his major research areas. Participants were encouraged to explore the deeper interplay between these fields. The survey papers by Kantor, O'Brien, and Penttila should serve to introduce both students and the broader mathematical community to these important topics and some of their connections while the volume as a whole gives an overview of current developments in these fields.

The workshop "Groups and Computations" took place at the Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science (DIMACS) at Rutgers University in June 1995. This and an earlier workshop held in October 1991 was aimed at merging theory and practice within the broad area of computation with groups. The primary goal of the previous workshop was to foster a dialogue between researchers studying the computational complexity of group algorithms and those engaged in the development of practical software. It was expected that this would lead to a deeper understanding of the mathematical issues underlying group computation and that this understanding would lead, in turn, to faster algorithms. Comments and subsequent work indicated that this goal had been achieved beyond expectations. The second workshop was designed to reinforce the progress in these directions. The scientific program consisted of invited lectures and research announcements, as well as informal discussions and software demonstrations. The eight extended talks discussed randomization, permutation groups, matrix groups, software systems, fast Fourier transforms and their applications to signal processing and data analysis, computations with finitely presented groups, and implementation and complexity questions. As in the previous workshop, speakers ranged from established researchers to graduate students.

This Festschrift is published in honor of Yuri Gurevich’s 80th birthday. An associated conference, YuriFest 2020, was planned for May 18–20 in Fontainebleau, France, in combination with the 39th Journées sur les Arithmétiques Faibles also celebrating Yuri’s 80th birthday. Because of the coronavirus situation, the conference had to be postponed, but this Festschrift is being published as originally planned. It addresses a very wide variety of topics, but by no means all of the fields of logic and computation in which Yuri has made important progress.

This book gives a nice overview of the diversity of current trends in computational and statistical group theory. It presents the latest research and a number of specific topics, such as growth, black box groups, measures on groups, product replacement algorithms, quantum automata, and more. It includes contributions by speakers at AMS Special Sessions at The University of Nevada (Las Vegas) and the Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, NJ). It is suitable for graduate students and research mathematicians interested in group theory.

Probabilistic Group Theory, Combinatorics and Computing is based on lecture courses held at the Fifth de Brún Workshop in Galway, Ireland in April 2011. Each course discusses computational and algorithmic aspects that have recently emerged at the interface of group theory and combinatorics, with a strong focus on probabilistic methods and results. The courses served as a forum for devising new strategic approaches and for discussing the main open problems to be solved in the further development of each area. The book represents a valuable resource for advanced lecture courses. Researchers at all levels are introduced to the main methods and the state-of-the-art, leading up to the very latest developments. One primary aim of the book’s approach and design is to enable postgraduate students to make immediate use of the material presented.

Table of contents

The focus of algorithmic group theory shifted from the decidability/undecidability type of result to the complexity of algorithms. This title contains papers that reflect that paradigm shift. It presents articles that are based on the AMS/ASL Joint Special Session, Interactions Between Logic, Group Theory and Computer Science.

The rapidly expanding area of algebraic graph theory uses two different branches of algebra to explore various aspects of graph theory: linear algebra (for spectral theory) and group theory (for studying graph symmetry). These areas have links with other areas of mathematics, such as logic and harmonic analysis, and are increasingly being used in such areas as computer networks where symmetry is an important feature. Other books cover portions of this material, but this book is unusual in covering both of these aspects and there are no other books with such a wide scope. Peter J. Cameron, internationally recognized for his substantial contributions to the area, served as academic consultant for this volume, and the result is ten expository chapters written by acknowledged international experts in the field. Their well-written contributions have been carefully edited to enhance readability and to standardize the chapter structure, terminology and notation throughout the book. To help the reader, there is an extensive introductory chapter that covers the basic background material in graph theory, linear algebra and group theory. Each chapter concludes with an extensive list of references.

This volume consists of contributions by researchers who were invited to the Harlaxton Conference on Computational Group Theory and Cohomology, held in August of 2008, and to the AMS Special Session on Computational Group Theory, held in October 2008. This volume showcases examples of how Computational Group Theory can be applied to a wide range of theoretical aspects of group theory. Among the problems studied in this book are classification of p-groups, covers of Lie groups, resolutions of Bieberbach groups, and the study of the lower central series of free groups. This volume also includes expository articles on the probabilistic zeta function of a group and on enumerating subgroups of symmetric groups. Researchers and graduate students working in all areas of Group Theory will find many examples of how Computational Group Theory helps at various stages of the research process, from developing conjectures through the verification stage. These examples will suggest to the mathematician ways to incorporate Computational Group Theory into their own research endeavors.